Battlefield 2184
by GreaterGoodIreland
Summary: "The Enemy Without, the Enemy Within, the Enemy Beyond." Three short stories following characters of Battlefield 2183 in the aftermath of the Eden Prime War. Interquel to BF2183-2185 - ME with the background of Battlefield 2142 - HFY
1. The Enemy Without

**The Enemy Without**

April 11th, 2184.

Shepard stared down from her perch, piercing eyes as emerald green as ever. Her face had an air of protective sternness, a warning to her enemies and a promise to those she had pledged to protect. In her left hand was a golden wreath of oak leaves, her fist curled around it. In her right, a sword was clutched, blade turned downward, the point almost touching the ground.

Karla Haider looked up at the gleaming marble statue, gathering her coat around her. Torfan's climate was cold, even by Earth standards. No glaciers of course, the event was being held too close to the equator for that, but cold enough to leave the breath smoking. The gloom of grey cloud hung all, as if the heavens themselves were sad. That hadn't stopped the dignitaries. It seemed like half the Alliance Parliament had shown up to pay their respects, to watch the moment. Shepard herself would not have liked it, but Haider understood the importance of such a scene. People needed to see it.

Humanity had lost a hero of unimaginable scale, a woman without whom the entire species would have perished. All the worse that the manner of the loss cut deeply. The politicians standing around were human too. Those that had come, at any rate. Shepard's critics were not present. The soldiers would not have been able to contain themselves. Even now, six months later, colonels and ship captains wept openly. And yet, the most important person did not.

The Major-General's gaze moved from the seated crowd to the large plinth on which the statue sat.

 _In Memoriam:_

 _Commander Jane Regina Shepard VC_

 _Saviour of the Citadel_

 _Exemplar of Humanity, Hero of the Asari Republics, Honorary Countess of Sur'Kesh, Paragon of the Turian Hierarchy, Martyr of the Quarian Coalition_

 _Rest in Peace_

Of course, the Commander's body was not within the walls of stone on which those words were written. It wasn't even absolutely certain that she was dead.

The accolades were only just worthy of Shepard's accomplishments, but they were the highest that existed to be given. Haider knew that Shepard's legacy would not be carved in stone, but in the hearts of the Alliance officers. It was pleasing to know that the Angel of Death inspired them all now. The level of sacrifice required in the coming years would be enormous.

As the time for the ceremony drew nearer, Shepard's words on the relationship of humanity to the rest of the galaxy grew in weight. The galaxy was ours. Those who threatened us were to be annihilated, those who lived with us cherished. A message that began as a political ideal, and was swiftly moving to almost a religious one in some quarters.

Humanity Ascendant, Protectors of the Galaxy. Was it any wonder, Haider thought. The existential dread of genocide hung heavy now, if only generally among humans. The war preparations made it worse. Some members of the other species began to fear not the evil on the fringes of dark space, but humanity's growing military strength. Fearing a necessity.

The Reapers had been beaten, but not destroyed.

A shadow's movement in her peripheral vision made Haider turn. Jennifer arrived, sat down in an empty chair beside, and crossed her arms.

In sharp contrast to the dark grey or blue dress uniforms of everyone else present, the young biotic had opted for her usual attire. Black kinetic barrier plates carried on straps over exposed skin, allowing free viewing of a mesh of tattoos. Hair shaved short at the sides, but grown long and braided at the sides over her hears and onto her back. Pistols and a shotgun carried openly on the waist. Below the waist, black combat fatigues, slit on the front along the thighs to show yet more tattoos, and combat boots. Unless heavy or in-vacuum combat was foreseen, attempting to convince her to dress in anything else was impossible. The appearance caused some turned heads, to say the least. The woman was far from done either.

"I saw a full-bird colonel crying like a fuckin' baby back there," Jennifer said, loudly enough for those beside to hear, "I know she was good, but shit... What did she have that could make that happen?"

Haider smirked. The question had been directed at her. And it was not simply rudeness. The young woman wanted to know.

"Why do you follow my orders?" she asked in return, "Why are you loyal?"

Jennifer ran her hand through her hair, chewing on the counter-question for a moment.

"You know why," she replied, half-heartedly, "Don't fucking remind me."

Haider cocked an eyebrow in reply. "I rescued you, came down from the skies like the wrath of God on the swine that held you," she smiled, "More than that, I made you family in every way I could. You needed it. Maybe I needed it."

She paused, thinking on how to phrase the main point.

"I would like to think you would feel bad if I was murdered," she said, " _Jack_."

The young woman's face scrunched up. She was still unused to public declarations of affection, maybe she always would be,but was getting more used to it. "Not like the cult was a big deal or anything... And if you were killed, I would go get revenge, real damn messily," Jennifer replied, "I wouldn't sit about crying."

Both of Haider's eyebrows raised, this time at the curious similarity with another reckless and ruthless Alliance officer. She knew at least Shepard would have agreed wholeheartedly.

"You're not everybody else, and there are two differences in this case," Haider replied, "One, Shepard saved the entire galaxy, not just one teenaged girl. Two, the threat is still out there and no one knows whether we'll be able to pull through without her. They're not just sad she's dead, they're afraid what will happen without her."

The late Commander had an insight and determination of a unique kind. And if anyone was worthy of the nickname 'the Angel of Death', it was most certainly Jane Shepard.

"I wasn't just a teenage girl," Jennifer complained, "Shit Karla, you made it sound like I was some fucking highschool kid that got mugged."

Haider knew that Jennifer's use of her first name and failure to address the real point meant that she had conceded, and said nothing more. It was inappropriate regardless; the main event had started, the crowd hushing up. Jennifer shut up too, thankfully.

Admiral Hannah Shepard appeared at the end of the aisle between the two sections of spectators in full dress uniform, medals on her chest. Her eyes were red but dry. She held a flaming torch. Behind her stood those members of the Normandy crew that could make it. Most of the original crew had been reassigned and were in the middle of missions of course, but about a third of them made it. Shepard's own was represented too. Tali'Zorah vas Honoria, Major Kaidan Alenko, Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau, and Admiral Anderson.

The absence of Garrus Vakarian, Ashley Williams, and Urdnot Wrex was notable, but not as much as that of Liara T'soni. The Alliance had tried to extend invites to all four. Vakarian couldn't be found. Not even the DID could locate him, which Haider viewed as a blemish on her own professional pride. Williams was busy in the Terminus, doing black ops that looked like it would set her up for a spot as a Citadel Spectre. Urdnot Wrex declined, stating that he would like to go but that his clan would fall apart if he did. He filed a request for the sale of more heavy armaments with the reply. Haider had approved the sale.

Liara T'soni had received the message, but didn't respond.

The group walked along the marble-paved path and up the steps, led by Hannah. As they neared, Haider saw that their faces were blank as they passed, except for Tali'Zorah, whom could not hide her grief even with a visor. They came to a large bronze bowl, and arranged themselves around it. When they were all in place, Admiral Shepard threw the torch into the bowl, igniting her daughter's memorial flame. The orange light rose to shoulder height, wavering in the wind.

Soldiers at the base of the plinth began to raise the banners. The Pale Blue Dot flag, depicting Earth against the blackness of space, Shepard's birthplace. The flag of the Alliance, to which Shepard had sworn her allegiance. The flags of the European Union and Canada, of which she was a citizen. All present stood. The silence of the air was ruptured as the Alliance anthem thundered out of the military brass band. The officer section of the audience began to sing the lyrics with abandon.

 _Terra Forever! Vict'ry is ours!_

 _Down with the slaver, liberty in the stars;_

 _We'll rally round the flag, yes, we'll rally once again,_

 _Shouting the battle cry of 'Freedom!'_

The crowd did as the song commanded. Faces uplifted as the words were sang, tears dismissed in favour of pride and hope.

Haider looked on with a clinical eye. How easy it was to change minds, all with a song and a few flags. Not that she was immune to the sense of belonging. Far from it. Being aware of the effect did not make one exempt, she knew. She clenched her teeth in irritation as her omnitool vibrated, indicating an urgent message. One that couldn't be ignored. Only six people could send such a message. One was standing beside her. Four more were elsewhere in the crowd. The last wasn't even in Alliance space.

Haider read the message, ignoring the continued singing. The contents almost sent her eyes popping out of her skull. The contents were utterly explosive. If the facts laid out were true, it was both a huge threat and a huge opportunity to the Alliance. The sender wasn't one to get excited without due cause, and her absence from the ceremony explained entirely by the hints about the intelligence she had gathered. T'soni had been too busy taking up where Shepard had left off to be there. Haider's mind began to turn, thinking of what it all meant.

Jennifer nudged, glancing at the omnitool. Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Haider forwarded the message to the biotic's own device. The anthem ended, and Admiral Shepard began reading a speech in a crisp tone, one that brooked no doubt as to the truth. Her daughter had been assassinated, the body stolen.

Haider knew the story, and didn't need it repeated. She walked out of her place and moved out of the crowd, reading the message she had received again. The forest behind provided sufficient privacy and quiet. At least until her follower spoke.

"Fucking Ilium," Jennifer said under her breath.

"I was headed there next, even without this," Haider whispered back, "The matriarchs seem to disagree with our new policy." The Pact had demanded the release of all quarian and human slaves on the planet, including the thousands of technicians and scientists deemed essential to preparations against the Reapers. On pain of swift military action, should the demand be refused.

"I'm still wanted there," Jennifer replied, rubbing the side of her shaved head nervously, "Maybe it's best if I sit this one out." The assumption that she was going to be asked to tag along was touching, but despite Haider's trepidation in doing so, in this case it was also accurate.

"I'll need you. The meeting isn't just with T'soni," Haider stated firmly, "Besides, I already fixed that problem, remember?"

"I can't promise I won't kill anyone if they try to arrest me," Jennifer said, "I mean, I blew up a shitload of ships when I was escaping. I-Sec have long memories."

"They're asari, they need to have long memories or they'd forget most of their lives," said Haider with a wave of her hand, "Besides, you're not Jacqueline Nought any more. They try to arrest you, we'll teach them that."

Jennifer chuckled to herself, cheered by that promise. "Maybe we'll need to blow up some ships to get out of there again this time," she smiled, "Fuckin' eh, this might be fun."

"Admiral Shepard's coming too," Haider said, "I don't mean to pour cold water on that idea, but I doubt anyone will act rashly if they know she's commanding the fleet."

* * *

"The Council of Matriarchs refuses your demands, and orders that you remove your fleet from Ilium space immediately. This world is an independent colony, not subject to the laws of the Alliance or the Citadel. Any attempt to impose your laws on us by force will be considered an act of war."

Haider bit her bottom lip, genuinely worried about the response. A more rash reply could not have been imagined, and her mind raced to work out how it could have been given.

The asari matron acting as spokesperson for the matriarchs of Ilium didn't even manage to look defiant. She was just absolutely dismissive of the huge force arrayed against her masters. She gave off an air like she was talking to someone who had just asked her for directions impolitely. Contempt for an inferior, in other words. But that wasn't why Haider was worried.

No, it was the look of cold fury across Hannah Shepard's eyes which was the cause for concern. A look like that on an admiral's face should have given anyone in the galaxy pause. Yet Ilium's rulers stood firm.

The bridge crew were equally unamused. Commander Corrigan was shaking her head. The quarian liaison, whose name had escaped Haider, had crossed his arms. The bridge lieutenants exchanged dark looks of anger. There would be no hesitation to act, if the order came, Haider realised. Not good for her mission.

"Slavery is an abomination," the Admiral said gravely, "Aside from that, you are illegally holding thousands of skilled people that we need for our war effort. Our citizens, whom owe military service. I repeat our demands. Release all quarian and human slaves into my custody, hand over your primary space stations to my marines, and allow Alliance agents to do a full security audit of all corporations for research or possession of Reaper technology. Fail to do so, and I am entitled by law to take all necessary action."

"Your _proposals_ were forwarded to the Council of Matriarchs yesterday, they were debated and rejected, Admiral," the spokesperson replied, so politely that it was becoming galling, "The decision is made." Just as Haider opened her mouth to speak, the connection cut off. The bitch had hung up on them.

Hannah Shepard sighed, and sat down in her seat, her eyes dancing on the holographic representation of Ilium's orbits floating in the middle of the room. The defence flotilla had fled when the Fifth Fleet had arrived, a smart move considering how utterly outmatched they would have been. The Eclipse fleet could have tipped the odds the other way, but it had stood down. Sederis had no intention of exposing her corporation to a disproportionate, thermonuclear response. Haider could almost see the question being asked in the Admiral's mind; Why was the opponent so confident?

"So much for gunboat diplomacy," Hannah said, leaning on one of her chair-arms, "XO, spin up the Medusas. Commence EMP bombardment of Nos Astra's power stations and spaceports."

"Aye, ma'am!" Corrigan replied, before parroting the orders to the gunnery officers.

Haider watched with a certain satisfaction as the holo-image zoomed in on Ilium's capital, the target zones appearing as red points on the surface. The Admiral had taken the restrained option, despite having her entire fleet and an Army taskforce to throw at the matriarchs if she needed it.

The screens filled with the external cameras of the _Athena_ , pointed at both the planet and the ship's weapons. A turret near the nose of the massive ship swivelled, and fired a blue bolt towards the ground. Where it struck, the yellow, purple and white lights winked out, the power loss spreading outwards from the impact point. A quick adjustment of the turret, and the Medusa Projector fired again, and another patch of Nos Astra went dark. Haider noted that other cities were going dark too; the other Alliance capital ships and the planetary assault cruisers were using their own electronic disruption weapons. All over Ilium, fusion plants' emergency safeties were shutting them down, and electrical substations were overloading and fusing into uselessness.

However, it was the early evening in Nos Astra, and if what she knew about that place was true, it would begin to look more like Omega now that the lights, cameras and security barriers had no power. The matriarchs had just bought city-wide riots with their defiance. Haider thought that was punishment enough, at least as long as compliance with the Alliance's demands came.

"That should give them something to chew on, for a few hours," Haider said happily, "The cartels down there will undoubtedly try to make the most of the situation, as they always do. I'm sure anyone with a server room or vault will be getting raided."

Hannah glanced at her with a frown. The same frown her daughter used to wear. The motion sent a shiver of nostalgic fear down Haider's back. The ghost of the younger Shepard seemed to follow the elder.

"Can you complete your mission if Nos Astra is rioting?" she asked, "I would prefer _not_ to put boots on the ground."

Haider's eyebrow twitched upwards. "I brought my own units for that purpose," she replied, "Besides, one of the people I am going to meet controls a small section of the city with her own forces. I doubt rioters or gangs will come anywhere near it."

Hannah nodded, turning her eyes back to the hologram. So did Haider, not having much more to say. There was a pregnant pause, as both of them watched Ilium's settlements stripped of electrical power. Something had been left unsaid.

" _She_ is down there somewhere, isn't she?" Hannah said quietly.

Haider jerked her head in surprise. "I didn't think you knew," she replied, "Have you spoken to T'soni?"

Hannah leaned back in her seat, sighing and rubbing an eye. "No, not since the funeral," the Admiral replied, "But... I thought I should keep tabs."

"Why?" Haider asked, "You don't owe her anything."

The Admiral's eyes flashed with disapproval. "Liara T'soni was a part of Jane's life," Hannah said, "They were happy. She made my daughter happy. I feel I have an obligation."

"With the tensions, that's not a very wise move," Haider warned, "I doubt any politician would dare raise their voice against you for the moment, but..."

"If Parliament or the Consuls feel I am unfit _for_ command, they are free to remove me _from_ command," Hannah said flatly, "Until then, I'll act according to my conscience, in the interest of humanity. It's not against humanity's interest to care about my daughter's lover, however strange it might seem to you or others. She's just one asari."

Haider winced, not wanting to be the politician who stuck their neck out to try and make the Rear-Admiral into a feather in their cap. "She's a _T'soni,_ Admiral."

An alarm beeped, signalling the arrival of a high priority message. Hannah the mother turned into Hannah the Admiral again, and sat up straight to listen to her XO. Commander Corrigan's head tilted as she listened to her headpiece speaker, her eyes widening at the message's content. A few taps on-screen, and the main hologram shifted from Ilium to the outer system. The Alliance picket ships were marked near the relay, next to a large clump of new contacts, identified in bright purple against the blackness of space.

"The _Valley Forge_ reports that an asari fleet has just dropped into the system. Three Kurinth-class dreadnoughts and an Armali-class drone carrier, escorted by cruisers and frigates," the XO reported, "They're proceeding to Thail."

"To discharge their drives," Hannah nodded, "Wait until they're in orbit, then send the warning."

Haider pinched the bridge of her nose. "Shit, I was afraid of this," she said, "This will spin out of control."

"Afraid of what?" Hannah asked.

"The asari are deeply divided about the Reapers and militarisation of their society," Haider explained, "That divide extends to the military, more so than we've deemed to inform the High Command of. Yet. We were collecting more evidence, but it looks like we were right. There's no shortage of matriarchs at the top that think it's all a plot by humanity to conquer the galaxy. Like we have the strength to actually do that." She rolled her eyes. It really was ridiculous. The new border in the Traverse and Terminus had outstretched the Navy, for the moment.

Hannah looked on in confusion. "If that's true," she said, "How come they aren't openly stopping us?"

Haider smirked. "Simple, they have to keep quiet in public due to our popularity among maidens and matrons," she replied, "We're too sexy to be plotting galactic domination. If the matriarchs declared us hostile, then a lot of younger asari would lose their human playthings or face ostracism for keeping them. It happened to the batarians when they cut off relations. The Matriarchs would be under a lot of pressure within the Republics' e-democracy if they made the move without cause."

Hannah shook her head in disbelief. "So is this fleet acting under orders from Thessia or not?" she asked impatiently, "I need to know."

"Unlikely," Haider replied, "It seems that Ilium has friends in very high places. It is probably the case that the city or colonial councils that paid for those ships dispatched them independently of the Republics' central government. The Asari Republics are plural for a reason."

Hannah Shepard face deformed into a vicious, hunter's smile. "So it's mutiny," she replied, "That makes things very simple."

"That doesn't mean that Thessia will like it if we fight them, Admiral," Haider added quickly.

"Irrelevant, my orders are clear," Hannah stated through her teeth, "Corrigan, give them the warning."

The XO tapped her screen, bringing up a tightbeam comms link, and straightened her mouthpiece.

" _Attention asari vessels, this is the flagship of the Alliance Fifth Fleet. You are in violation of a designated exclusion zone, established in accordance with the Citadel Accords and the Anti-Slavery Acts of 2173 and 2184._ "

" _We are currently engaged in military operations against a non-signatory state. Withdraw immediately to the relay. Failure to comply is a breach of the law, and will be treated as a belligerent action_."

The comms buzzed, silent of any noticeable reply. The entire bridge slowed what they were doing, glancing nervously at the central dais, at Admiral Shepard. For three minutes, there was nothing. The air grew heavier with each passing second, but Haider already knew that the asari fleet's response was a foregone conclusion.

" _Valley Forge_ reports that the asari are continuing their discharges, and are launching drone fighters," Corrigan said with inevitable dread.

"I guess that is how the asari tell us to go fuck ourselves..." said the quarian liaison loudly, his deep tone of voice heavily accented in English.

"Zul'Taala, your input is noted," Hannah said with a complete lack of amusement, "Action stations! All ships, launch alert fighters."

The lighting dimmed, and the hologram changed, decreasing the size of Ilium in its image and bringing up more detailed icons for the ships in its orbit.

"Aye, ma'am!" Corrigan exclaimed, bringing her mouthpiece closer to her mouth, "This is Athena XO. Launch alert fighters. Comms, inform Space Command Terra that we have engaged a rogue asari fleet."

Haider watched as the squadrons' contact icons rolled away from the Athena's own, along with those of the _Valkyria_ and the escort carriers. The frigate wolfpacks were already making their way to reconnoitre the asari drones, and the cloud of purple contacts began to reveal themselves. The action was engrossing, and not only because it was combat. It was potentially the beginning of a war with the more militant elements of the Asari Republics. It was history. She had felt that weight before, just never from space. But the Admiral had.

Hannah cleared her throat to get Haider's attention. "Get to your gunship, General," she said, "The asari dreadnoughts and cruisers will need a few hours to complete their drive discharge. I can't guarantee your safety groundside after that point."

Haider nodded, taking a step away before halting. "Thank you, Admiral," she said.

"You're entirely welcome, General," Hannah Shepard replied, "Now go."

Haider complied, breaking into a run. The gravity plates wouldn't be left on forever, after all, and there wasn't a moment to lose. The corridors were empty, as she made her way to the tram to take her back to the flight decks. She activated her omnitool, and made a call. It was picked up on immediately.

"Yeah?" Jennifer said lazily.

"Get everyone mounted up," Haider said, "An asari fleet just dropped into the system."

"Oh," the biotic replied, without a hint of panic, "That's why everyone's rushing around."

"Yes, now move it!"

"Yeah yeah, got it!"

* * *

The high spires of Nos Astra were dark for the most part. The flight of nine Mantis gunships threaded between the large, monolithic shadows, silhouetted against the darkening sky.

The streets below were a different story. Fires and the strobing flashes of armed combat flickered down most of the main pedestrian thoroughfares, clustered around skycar parking garages, residential districts and shopping malls. Intercepts from I-Sec showed that they had their hands full, but were far from overrun just yet. Eclipse might have decided to keep out of the space fight, but the mercs were on the streets in force.

Haider grinned as she listened from the Mantis' passenger hold. There was something amusing about the bet-hedging. Sederis might regret the decision, if I-Sec were in any position to prevent the Alliance plan from going ahead. But that was a worry for later. Mercenaries were buzzing flies compared to the resources sovereign governments could bring against their enemies.

It was the Batarian Hegemony that was her concern now.

"What's so funny?" Jennifer asked. The Major-General looked up, to find the biotic peering around to look at the active omnitool, while the rest of the platoon staff smirked. There were disadvantages in bending regulations to make war the family business, she thought. Though did not outweigh the advantages, not for an intelligence officer.

"Politics," Haider replied, "The riots aren't as bad as I thought they would be."

Jennifer blew a breath out in disappointment. "Aw, here I was thinking I could walk down to the district and get me a fur coat," she said, "Or a Revenant."

Haider rolled her eyes. "If you want a machinegun, requisition one," she said flatly, "Not exactly a good choice for a biotic either." That particular model wasn't light.

"It's not the same," Jennifer complained, "It's more fun to flash around my prize from the Second Big Ilium Riot than to brag about something the quartermaster issued... I got my pistols here last time. Besides, the quartermaster hates me."

The First Big Ilium Riot being the event that made her infamous, galaxy-wide.

"That's your problem," Haider shrugged, before switching her omnitool's screen to the external camera again.

The Batarian Quarter, called 'Khar'shan Minor' to them, was a lot closer than it had been, and it was the few islands of artificial light in a sea of darkness. A small one too. Apart from the single compound with a batarian-style fortress-mansion and the few blocks around it, the place was in darkness. More ominous was the other light effect. Tracer fire, streaming intermittently into the sky. Gunmen on the ground were shooting at others in the upper floors of the buildings.

"Batarians," Haider said, "Give them the only lights in the entire city, and they'll still end up killing each other."

"Lucky for us," Jennifer added, "Squints would be harder to deal with otherwise."

Haider made a noise of agreement, if only because the divisions among that species were precisely what had brought her to Ilium in the first place. Not knowing what exactly was going on annoyed her, and not having a direct line to T'soni, she changed channels on her comms to deal with the fog of war ahead.

"Adler 3, this is Adler 1," she said in German, "Buzz the landing zone, paint us a picture."

"Copy, Adler 1," replied the pilot.

The left lead gunship threw away the caution of the squadron's approach with great abandon, leaving a sonic boom as it accelerated forwards. The blaze of its thrusters was still visible when it finally overflew the mansion, before executing a sharp turn left and upwards to circle around and rejoin the formation. The pictures from its targeting VI began streaming in immediately.

The attackers had breached the mansion compound's outer walls on the street-side, and there was a general firefight in progress. The still images seemed to indicate that it wasn't in fact batarians fighting batarians, but a collection of species against a mix of asari and batarians. The former seemed to have improvised light armour to boot, airtrucks with heavy weapons on the rear and kinetic barrier plates bolted to the front and sides.

Cheap and utterly inadequate against real mechanised armour, but enough to put serious hurt on any exposed infantry except for asari commandos. Which explained why the batarians were retreating under the cover of a group of asari. The asari were the ones that had at least some of the answers she needed. The Major-General bit her lip. Letting a second-rate gang with big guns kill them wasn't an option.

"Formation, proceed to execution," Haider commanded, " _Greif_ is heavily engaged, landing zone is hot. Walkers touch down first."

The acknowledgement came from the officers loudly, and all nine gunships accelerated to reach their designated points, the two tank-hunters moving to the front to strafe the grounds while the others circled while the job was completed. The airtruck technicals began turning their weapons skyward, but not in time to save the first two from the 155s under the wings of the gunships. They exploded spectacularly, scattering the others with the fear that they might be next. Of course, that meant it would take a few minutes more to kill them, but at least they weren't shooting at anyone else. The intel would be safe.

The supporting infantry had no such problems, however.

"There's T'soni," Jennifer said, pointing, "Doing her wrecking-crew thing. Sorta nostalgic, actually. She was something else at the Citadel."

The young asari was maintaining three singularities and letting off a brace of warp bolts at the nearest cluster of turians. Being the daughter of two matriarchs renowned galaxy-wide for their biotic power had really given the woman talent for the job. But the will to use it like she was came from elsewhere, Haider knew. From a human.

"Is it true she used to be some sort of professor?" Jennifer asked, "When I met her, she was already a seriously lethal bitch."

"Researcher for the University of Serrice," confirmed Haider, recalling the original intelligence dossier, "Archaeologist, a specialist on the Protheans, very promising career ahead."

Jennifer raised an eyebrow, stabbing a finger at the image of the asari in question.

" _That_ girl used to dig up ruins and old bones as her job?" she said. As if to emphasize the change, T'soni proceeded to toss a half-dozen salarians that had decloaked around her into the wall with her biotics, delivering mercy kills with her heavy pistol on the follow up.

"What the hell happened?" Jennifer asked, incredulous.

"Shepard, of course," Haider replied, "Melding too often and too deeply with a woman with nicknames like the 'Angel of Death' and the 'Butcher of Torfan' will do that."

"Didn't know asari could be influenced like that," Jennifer said, "Shit, could I change one if I did the same thing?"

Haider checked that there were no surprises on the scopes, before deeming to answer. Jennifer wasn't as hard as she liked to imagine herself, but there was little point confirming or denying her.

"Not sure," she said, "It's all psychology. Shepard helped Liara T'soni find her mother, get revenge, and all the while, proved more or less conclusively the truth that humanity has discovered out here in the galaxy; _pacifism is for slaves_. T'soni also began to love Shepard. Deeply. Uncontrollably. The asari fall hard when they fall at all. Its a racial characteristic of theirs. So is getting over it when their mates die."

Jennifer hummed in thought, finally slouching back into her seat.

"Adler 1, this is Adler 2," the comms chirped, "Landing zone is clear of hostile armour."

"Copy," Haider replied, "Formation, begin landings." She changed the external view to watch ahead instead of directly at the compound.

The walker-carriers went in first, coming to a hover directly between _Greif_ and the street-side gates.. The assault walkers themselves dropped, landing with audible thuds even over the high pitched screaming of the gunship engines. More tracers streaked towards both aircraft and walker, as the infantry tried to do something about it. RPGs followed, but to little avail.

The gatling cannons of the walkers spun up and spat a steady stream of twenty-mil explosive bolts at the remaining intruders. The effects on the enemy were grizzly, leaving patches and smears of meat, blood and bone on the white stone. It achieved its objective as hoped, Haider noted, taking the pressure off the defenders and covering the landing of the _Fallschirmjägers._ Her gunship led the remaining ones in as they began to land. She stood up in the passenger compartment, gripping the hand-hold above her head to stay upright as the gunship landed and the rear ramp dropped.

The platoon staff stayed aboard, leaving Jennifer to brush past them to lead the way out. Haider followed, her hat in her hand so it wouldn't blow off in the downwash of the gunship's thrust. She stepped out onto the smooth stone, into the circle the other gunships had formed to protect the platoon as it disembarked. Jennifer already had her helmet on and her pistols out, head swivelling to find a target.

There were none, though Haider thoroughly approved of her enthusiasm in this case.

"Adler formation, search and destroy," she ordered, "If it's breathing, in possession of a weapon and isn't I-Sec, annihilate it."

"With pleasure, Major-General," came the reply, "Adler 2 out."

The gunships dusted off again and vectored away to do as they were ordered. Haider held her long leather coat in place as they powered away, almost imagining the glee with which the pilots probably were prosecuting the orders. As the thunder of their weapons began again, the walkers' own ceased and her attention quickly turned to the cluster of seven asari ahead, all dressed in light-armour painted the grey-and-white of the Alliance Army.

T'soni came over first, leading the rest towards her from the steps of the mansion.

Together, they were Section _Greif_. All citizens of the Systems Alliance by marriage save for T'soni herself. Mothers to children born of human parents, victims of the Reapers, and now, vengeful operatives of the Defence Intelligence Directorate. Haider couldn't help but reflect for a moment on the pain some of them must run on. Every single one had lost their child to the Reaper assault the year before, most had lost the father of the child too. Yet she didn't feel an ounce of guilt about asking them to serve.

The Reapers would make many parents bury their children by the time they were done. Haider placed the high peaked officer's cap on her head, and brushed her thumb over the Iron Cross tied around her neck. The one she had won for stopping the massacre of slaves on Anhur. She felt the pain of the oncoming war drain out of her, and faced the asari.

T'soni arrived, nodding a greeting to Jennifer, before addressing Haider.

"Major-General," she said politely, "Thank you for your intervention. It seems our hosts have some very serious disagreements with a local group."

"So it seems," Haider agreed, "I'm glad we could help."

"Pity the flyboys got all the fun," Jennifer added, "Though you had yours." She stuck her tongue out at the asari, getting a grin from T'soni for good measure.

"I am glad to see you have not changed, Lieutenant," Liara said, "I am sure you could have helped."

"She still might," Haider replied flatly, "If I don't like what this batarian of yours has to say."

"The information Lady Shaaryak provided explains many things," Liara objected, "And she has already reconciled with the Alliance-backed batarian government-in-exile on Shan'kharit. This suggests that her loyalty has shifted away from the Hegemony."

"As she has refused to name her source except in person, I am not reassured," Haider said, "The External Forces aren't above blackmailing an exiled noble into setting a trap for us. For me, specifically. For all I know, the mansion is crawling with SIU."

"If only," Jennifer added.

Haider grimaced, very much preferring to not face the crack special operatives of the Hegemony. "Unless you have seen every inch of the building, I must operate under that assumption."

The leader of the asari commandos drew level with T'soni, cradling her Avenger. Reia T'nara-Khan was her name. A large woman, with two hundred years of military service under her belt for the Armali Militia. She had moved to Eden Prime after entering the matron stage of her life, where Haider had personally recruited her for _Greif_ the year before. Her double-barrelled name was a testament to her affection for her murdered wife. It was that detail that had sealed her place as the leader of the only asari unit in the Alliance's short history, as much as her length of previous service.

"You're not going to like the next bit, then," said Reia, her voice possessing more gravel than T'soni's by a mile, "The batarians want to speak to you and Liara only." She waved a finger around at the platoon. "The troops stay outside," she added.

"To hell with this shit!" Jennifer said, turning to Haider, "You're not seriously going to go along with that?"

"Not a chance," Haider agreed, "But it does make me curious. Did they say why they wanted such an arrangement?"

"They want to minimise the chance of a leak on our side," Liara explained, "Lady Shaaryak is concerned about her reputation among other batarian houses. Due to who their source is. He or she must be someone considered to be an enemy of Shan'kharit's dissidents. Shaaryak may be attempting to secure her future position of leadership among them."

Haider had to hand it to T'soni, she made an excellent intelligence operative. Considering the facts, that was exactly the conclusion the general herself would have drawn.

"I'm surprised she has decided to lower herself," Haider mused, "Shan'kharit is not a friendly place to traditionalist nobles."

"Which is why many live here on Ilium," Liara nodded. The asari's omnitool began beeping, and she brought it online. It was a message, text-only.

"The Lady is ready to receive you," the asari continued, "I presume you will not be complying with their request?"

"Nope," said Jennifer immediately, both hands on her hips, "Alliance doesn't kowtow to fuckin' batarians."

"She is correct," Haider said, frowning at just how Jennifer had put it, "In spirit at least. We don't compromise security to appease anyone, in fact."

"They will refuse to open the doors," Reia said, "What do we do?"

"We will open them ourselves," Haider replied, before turning to the tattooed biotic beside her, "Lieutenant."

Jennifer holstered a pistol, and activated the comms control around her neck.

"Hey, Riesig One, got a fire mission for you," she said playfully, "Get over here and blow the fucking hinges off the front doors. Mama Haider's watching."

"Gotchya," came the cheery reply from the young man inside. Haider frowned, and reminded herself to reprimand Jennifer in some way for her fraternisation with the enlisted personnel of her platoon. Not that it would do any good. She was utterly devoted to them, and they to her.

Regardless, the assault walker left its companion to continue covering the gate, and thumped its way across the open space. Liara furiously typed off a message on her omnitool, a warning to the people inside the mansion Haider hoped, as the war machine moved across the plaza.

It rounded the platoon, as their heads followed it, and took station in front of the doors directly. The gatlings span, whirring, before the _brrrrrpt_ overtook the sound. The explosive rounds tore into the stone around the large hinges. One by one, they disappeared in a cloud of dust, starting from the top. It took some doing, the stone was reinforced with metal rods, but it wasn't indestructible. The doors fell in their frame once the final hinge had been separated from it, but they remained upright.

"Fire mission complete," reported the driver.

"Get you a case of beer for that one," said Jennifer, "Stay on overwatch."

"Sure thing."

Liara's omnitool beeped again. "They are asking you to stop shooting or face retaliation," she said, "And reiterate the importance of the information they have passed on."

"They would regret retaliating," Haider said, pulling her pistol from her coat, "But we've made our point. Let's get this over with." She waved the entire group forwards with her weapon, and stepped ahead.

Jennifer fell in directly beside, and waited until they were just far enough away to send a biotic shockwave towards the doors. The biotic power rippled into the ornately decorated wood-covered metal, and they spun off their ruined hinges and slammed onto the steps, ringing like church bells but out of the way. The lights that had been briefly revealed inside turned off. Smart, Haider thought, but ultimately meaningless.

T'soni caught up, seemingly determined to prevent a mistake that would lead to bloodshed. Haider was tempted to say she need not bother. If Jennifer wanted bloodshed, there wasn't much that could be done to stop it. Lucky that it seemed the biotic was in a good mood. Very lucky, in fact, given what was waiting inside the mansion.

The lights turned on again once the entire group was inside. It was a main hall with a balcony around it, and both the ground floor and the upper floor were lined with batarians. Most of them weren't armed or armoured up with anything that could outdo Alliance special forces or asari commandos, but they had numbers. The batarians always did. More worrisome were the four personal mech units, mini-walkers, lined up at the back wall. No match for the real thing, of course, but fitting the real thing through the doorway would have been difficult. Haider wouldn't have stepped inside at all upon seeing them, if she hadn't had a whole squad of biotics on hand.

There was also the surprise of a number of asari among the bodyguards of the good lady. Shaaryak herself had dressed up for the occasion in a black dress, with some sort of ceremonial tiara on her head in tasteful silver, both complementing her teal skin and delicate features. Delicate for a batarian, at least, which was somewhat akin to saying 'delicate for a bear'. A four-eyed bear.

Haider mentally beat down the marrow-deep dislike she held for the species, and continued forwards, casual as can be. The soldiers did the opposite, powering up some omni-shields and keeping a tight perimeter. The asari on her side remained impassive but cautious. Everyone was doing their job, in other words.

A batarian man moved forwards and held his hand up. Haider got the message and stopped, about ten yards from the lady herself. He was about to move back again, but froze, as all four eyes framed Jennifer in their sight.

"Oh shit!" he said, pointing at the biotic, "That's Jack!"

The hall echoed with the sound of metallic gun noise, as the batarians shifted their aim and prepared their weapons to fire. Jennifer's body was turned into a light-show of laser points, the green and red dots fluttering about on her tattoos. Needless to say, and to Haider's complete lack of surprise, she found the situation extremely funny, bursting out laughing as she tore her helmet off.

"Surprise!" said Jennifer, "Tickets are free for anyone looking to die, tonight only!" A biotic barrier shimmered around her. She retrieved her pistols from the holsters under her shoulders, snapping the barrels towards the bodyguard and an asari on the other side, daring one to attack. She at least had the good sense to not point the weapons at the leader, but that wasn't very much consolation. The mechs were moving around to get a clear shot at her.

Haider grit her teeth. The idiots had set the biotic off, and in her glee, she was playing along.

"Jacqueline Nought is dead," she declared, moving in front of Jennifer, laser points moving over her body instead, "This is Lieutenant Jennifer Haider. Stand down immediately!" The hope being that pointing out their common surname would make them realise just how screwed they were if they so much as thought about firing. Unfortunately, it did not work. The laser sights did not move an inch.

"I know Jack when I see her," growled the batarian male, "And I refuse to permit her presence before Lady..."

"Enough," said a clear voice from behind. The Lady, it seemed, preferred to speak for herself. The bodyguard turned, and an elaborate display of head tilting and bowing followed, the noble expressing her dominance over her subordinates in a non-verbal manner. The man stood down, and the glowing red and green dots diminished greatly in number. Jennifer even lowered her weapons, through they remained in-hand. But not without a sigh of disappointment.

"Perhaps we should begin with introductions," Liara suggested lightly, "I think we have done enough fighting for one day." Haider glanced at the asari, impressed with T'soni's gentle reminder that she had fought to preserve the mansion in the first place. The Lady inclined her head, and gave a single wave to another batarian attendant to proceed.

"You stand in the presence of Nynsi Shaaryak of Khar'shan," said the attendant, "Possessor of the Shaaryak Estate, Exiled Holder of the Hak'til seat on the Council of Greaters, direct and legitimate descendant of Hegemon Verush the Great."

Of course, Nynsi Shaaryak was in fact a businesswoman, a semi-criminal one, with heavy investments in arms and armour, manufacturing and development, but dabbling in pretty much everything else, from indentured servants to scrap. An empire inherited from Xerol Shaaryak, a figure of much more renown. Little Nynsi was trying to live up to the old man's reputation, Haider thought.

The attendant turned and bowed to his master, again with a head tilt. The Lady's eyes waited for the accompanying introduction. Haider resisted the great temptation to roll her own. The display was testing her outward tolerance. Luckily, there was a way to put the batarian noble in her place. It happened to be the case that she possessed a higher rank. Two can play the pretentious-inherited-titles game.

"I am Karla Maria-Anna Haider von Habsburg," she said, "Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary, Bohemia and Jerusalem, Grand Master of the Order of the Golden Fleece."

All defunct titles for countries that either had pooled their sovereignty with others or simply didn't exist any more. Nearly meaningless, except in some human conservative circle that Karla exploited with aplomb. Not that it mattered, Shaaryak's titles were similar pretense. Silence greeted the response, as Haider had hoped. The Lady's eyes had narrowed ever so slightly, she noted, and the slight tilt of the batarian's head to the right had stopped. She had been believed.

"Now that we're done swapping the achievements of our ancestors," she continued, "Can we move on to achieving something for ourselves? I'm also Army Director of the DID, as you well know. I am empowered to negotiate for the Systems Alliance, if that is what you brought me here for."

An irritated but thoroughly aristocratic growl erupted from Lady Shaaryak. "Very well," she said, "There is a reason for my formality, but we may address that later. From your... entrance, I see that Miss T'soni passed on the message I sent to her."

"Yes, an interesting tale," said Haider, "But I want to hear the exact details from your mouth." If it was some contrivance of the batarian black-hats, then perhaps the Lady could be caught out on the details. If she was being coerced, it was almost certain she wasn't in possession of the full story.

"You don't trust me. Of course you don't," Shaaryak said, gesticulating, "I have opposed your efforts at every turn. I was right to. Your puppet government on Shan'kharit has no respect for the heritage of the people it claims to rule. Without my faction, it is doomed to fall."

"Maybe if they had less capable handlers," Haider said, "You might be right. But while the Alliance stands, so do the democratic dissidents along with their batarian government-in-exile. You simply don't accept that reality... Or perhaps you do now?"

Shaaryak inclined her head, confirming that she had indeed. "They are the only credible alternative," the Lady said, "Now that I have joined them."

"I'm sure they'll be delighted to hear it," said Haider, her impatience growing, "Tell me exactly why you changed your mind."

Shaaryak nodded to the nearest asari, a creature of average height for the species but with savage scars on her throat. The retainer brought up her omnitool, and the same pictures that had been attached to the message sent by T'soni appeared.

A Reaper, or what looked like one, sitting in a large enclosed space of yellow stone, surrounded by the tiny figures of batarians and what could only be scientific equipment. The picture itself was not faked, as far as Haider's people could tell. Which had very nasty implications.

"In 2163, the Hegemony recovered the corpse of a Reaper from a crater on Jartar," Shaaryak began, "The Leviathan of Dis."

Haider's heart nearly stopped. That detail hadn't been in the message. And it was important, because twenty years is a long time for indoctrination opportunities. The Lady continued, heedless of her guest's discomfort at the news.

"We... they did not know its true nature until the Butcher's encounters with the Prothean beacons. It lay in a warehouse on Khar'shan for years. Some materials technology was recovered from it, but the project was shut down due to changing priorities. After the Hegemony lost the war in 2178, the Arch-Hegemon was looking for any edge he could find over the Alliance."

Haider felt her face curl with anger at the noble calling Shepard "the Butcher", just barely keeping the sensation inaudible. The batarian looked on for a response. Testing the waters on how far they could push disagreement over past clashes. It was obnoxious, but there was far too much at stake to fall now.

"And he found it in the Leviathan," Haider said carefully.

"He certainly thinks so," Shaaryak said, "The whole structure was moved to the research laboratories beneath the Great Ziggurat early last year. Techs have been working on it day and night for eight months, and the Arch-Hegemon visits it regularly, often with members of the High Command."

"That's the part that got me interested," Haider said, pointing, "The leader of the batarian people sleeps a few floors up from Reaper tech... a full Reaper even, and brings most of the other leaders of your species to visit it like a national monument? You must know that they are all indoctrinated by now."

"There are some that say 'indoctrination' is a conspiracy to corner Reaper tech for humanity," Shaaryak smiled, revealing her fangs, "But I do not think so. You have been too generous in sharing what you have learned for such a thing to be true."

"Great, you believe us," Jennifer interrupted, throwing her hands up, "Get to the part where you can prove _this_ isn't a conspiracy to buy time." Or provoke another unnecessary war, Haider added in her head. A few more laser dots appeared on Jennifer, as the Lady sent a withering glare at the biotic. The movement of her hands could have easily been the precursor to a biotic attack, after all. It was hardly tactful.

"I am certain that most of the Arch-Hegemon's court and his military leaders are indoctrinated," Shaaryak said, her lower eyes returning to Haider first, "My source has indicated that there is a seismic shift in attitudes among them, and it started about the time the Arch-Hegemon became interested in the Leviathan. With every passing day, they become more hungry for war. A long war they can't win."

"That certainly seems like something the Reapers would want," Liara said, her eyes rolled up in thought, "The lower castes have lost appetite for such adventures, however."

"They have," Shaaryak replied, "Even now, there is great unrest on Khar'shan, and General Gadnalak has disappeared. The lowborn think he was assassinated by the Arch-Hegemon for resisting the war hawks."

Haider frowned. Gadnalak was a man of exceptional military and political talent. The man who had planned and executed the raid on Mindoir, as well as the man who got the External Forces off of Elysium intact at the beginning of the Second Verge War. He would have been extraordinarily hard to kill, or else the Alliance would have done it years ago. She didn't quite believe he could be assassinated.

"But it does not matter what the lowborn think," Shaaryak pressed on, "The Navy is utterly loyal to the Arch-Hegemon, and its admirals have visited the Leviathan. All it would require to start a war is a single attack on the Alliance defences in the Verge."

"It would be suicide," Haider said, "Our own forces are vastly superior now, and we have the Pact. The entire quarian fleet has been repurposed for military service, and it's pledged to defend Alliance territory."

"I know," Shaaryak said, "Which is something I intend to discuss with you once you are confident that I am not lying."

"I will be happy to," replied Haider, "Once you tell me who your source is."

The Lady paused, either considering for the last time whether to reveal the name or to heighten the tension. Even if the latter wasn't intended, it happened regardless. Haider's skin began to itch with her impatience, and from the curled lips on Jennifer's face, she was on edge too.

"Kemen Sak'davran," Shaaryak said finally. A name Haider hadn't heard in a while, but a familiar one.

"The former governor of Torfan?" Liara said, incredulous, "I'm glad Shepard is not here..." The young asari seemed to be struck with a sudden bolt of sadness, for which there was no immediate cure. Jennifer laid a hand on the asari's shoulder, her lips pursed with something approaching sympathy.

"So am I," said Haider quickly, "Sak'davran is a die-hard Hegemony loyalist, why would he give you this information?"

"The Governor is loyal to the batarian people, and to the Pillars," Shaaryak replied, "Not to any politician or faction. Of all people, he is able to spot a clear path of suicidal decline when he sees one. But I don't expect you to take my word for it." She nodded again to the asari with the scarred throat, who tapped her omnitool interface and brought up a video file.

It was Kemen Sak'davran himself, his deep maroon coloured skin and wide lower eyes unmistakeable to Haider.

He spoke in a high cant of the Batarian noble tongue. The words were harsh yet flowing, and the translator programme was only able to give a textual rendition of their meaning into sari. He explained who he was and what he had discovered; namely the Leviathan, its true nature and what had been happening with it. It was unacceptable to see his people become puppets of genocidal AI. He had decided to declare his loyalty to Shan'kharit's government-in-exile and would organise an armed rebellion on Khar'shan itself.

Haider listened, and considered the facts as she saw them. It was definitely the man in question on the vid. Shaaryak wasn't being coerced, or else the SIU trap accompanying that would have already been sprung. It wasn't a scheme by the indoctrinated Arch-Hegemon to get the Alliance to attack, that was even more suicidal than taking the initiative.

The images of the Reaper were real. The report of greater aggression in the batarian highborn responsible for running the Hegemony lined up with what she knew from signals intercepts and spies.

The same had provided the profile of Sak'davran. It was true that he was an eccentric, despite his reputation for complete loyalty. He ruled with a soft touch too, an unusual feature for a batarian Governor.

Suddenly, it all fell into place.

The information was good, she realised.

"It's real," said Haider firmly, "You've convinced me."

Shaaryak breathed out softly with relief. It had been a gamble to call the Alliance in on this, Haider knew, and the Lady was betting her entire future on the result. She had bet well.

"The Alliance will have no choice," Haider continued, "We must declare war in light of the Hegemony's war preparations and the evidence of Reaper indoctrination. If the indoctrinated command any forces when the Reapers finally do get out of dark space, the disruption to the defence of the galaxy would be unacceptable."

"And so the government-in-exile shall return to the homeworld," Shaaryak said, "Correct?"

"That is so," said Haider, albeit reluctantly, "We don't want to waste resources on an occupation either."

"I must now address the reason for my formality," said Shaaryak, her voice gaining gravitas, "I have discussed this development with the leaders of the factions. In two days, we intend to declare a Batarian Commonwealth, and request membership of your Versailles Pact."

Haider snorted. The puppet wanted loose from its strings. How amusing.

"But that would mean..." Liara said.

"Independence and alliance among equals," Shaaryak said, "No more puppetry. The exiles, even the democrats and liberals, have no intention of returning to the home of the batarian species only to rule in the name of Earth. If the Reapers are coming, we see no reason to accept any occupation of our territories or disarmament. You will need every warm body and every ship to throw at the synthetics."

Haider already knew what the Consuls would say. Already, Shaaryak was looking on, like this was a big ask. In truth, the Reapers had turned every other concern into a triviality. Even now, as human and quarian fleets stared at warlords and pirates across the relays of the Traverse and Terminus, and the other Council species fought internal political battles over the real extent of the threat.

There was only one word to say.

"Done."

Shaaryak recoiled slightly. Jennifer spun her head around. "What?" they both said, before turning to each other in surprise that they were in agreement about something.

"You can join the Pact," Haider said, "You are right. We need every warm body, and every ship. Death is coming for us all. The Reapers are a threat to every species."

"And you can guarantee this?" Shaaryak asked, "As a representative of your government."

"If you join us in taking down the Hegemony," Haider replied, "I am certain the consuls will agree to it." It was easily justified. Only Terra Firma's group would have problems among the politicians, and the military would fall into line because it would help to smash the slavers forever. The only alternative was a more costly war followed by an ethnic cleansing that not even the turians had matched with their poisoning of the krogan gene pool.

"I shall make the arrangements," said a stunned Shaaryak, tilting her head respectfully, "Diplomats will be dispatched to Arcturus once the declaration is made, to finalise the details."

"I'll make sure they don't get shot out of the sky," Haider joked back, turning to leave, "Both of our peoples' chances at making it through the storm that's coming just got a lot better." It was a reason to feel good, and she did, her every movement lighter. The Arch-Hegemon would die behind this mess, and humanity would gain bodies and ships to throw at the Reapers.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, General?" Liara asked.

"Exactly," said Haider, "Goodbye, Lady Shaaryak. Send me the bill for the doors."

"Goodbye, Archduchess," the Lady said, "I don't need your money."

Haider strode away, Liara and Jennifer in tow. The platoon of special forces began powering down their omni-shields, filing out of the hall. The lasers betraying the rifles' aiming at Jennifer's body went away. Even as they returned to the ominous sound of the gunships and gangs firing heavy ordnance across the city, the General couldn't help but smile. Jennifer even waited until they were absolutely out of earshot to make her complaint.

"Did we just make nice?" she said loudly, "What the hell did I just watch?!"

"Progress, Jennifer," Haider replied, "You just watched the first real progress in human-batarian relations in twenty-seven years."

"And it only took the arrival of the Reapers to bring it about," Liara said with a smile, "I hope it lasts."

"I don't," Jennifer moaned, "Who am I supposed to kill when the Reapers are beaten?"

Liara's smile widened. "I am glad you are so confident that we will beat the Reapers, lieutenant," she said, "Strangely, it gives me hope."

"What? You aren't confident?" Jennifer continued, "You're even more a killing machine than I am."

Haider tuned out of the conversation there, happy to leave them to it as she recalled the gunships to pick them up. As they entered their landing pattern once more, her omnitool beeped at her with a comms request. Knowing it was from the Navy, she opened it.

"Adler, this is Athena Actual," said Hannah Shepard's voice, "We have a change in the situation that requires you return immediately."

Liara glanced over, knowing it was Jane Shepard's mother. Haider nodded, and responded.

"What seems to be the trouble?" Haider replied.

"Three turian fleets joined the show," Hannah explained, "They've ordered the rogue asari fleet to stand down, and any of our ground forces to get off Ilium ASAP. Space Command Terra sent on our warning, and Udina got moving. The Council voted on a compromise deal, the turians sided with us. We'll get the people we need. Mission is scrubbed."

Haider looked back at the mansion, the open doorway guarded casually by some of the batarians, led by the scarred asari. They were looking on with interest as the gunships began to enter their landing pattern. They were on the side of the living now too. Her side.

"It's not a problem, Athena Actual," she said, "We've done what we needed to."

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just a taster of what is to come for BF2185.  
_

 _Minor crossover with Katkiller-V's Another Realm series here, which I recommend._


	2. The Enemy Within

**The Enemy Within**

Nevos was a beautiful world.

The view from the top of the cliffs of the protected cove was spectacular. A gentle arc of blinding white sand, deep blue water reaching out through the light grey rock to the ocean beyond, Thessian palm trees and other topical plants sighing in the sea breeze, stretching back over the island as far as the eye could see. It was no wonder the asari commune had chosen this spot, isolated and perfect. Their houses were made of the local wood, their roofs thatched with palm leaves. Above, twin pink moons hung in varied crescents, the evening closing in.

Ashley Williams looked on from her observation point, wondering if there was some place else like it, where she could bring a future husband. A place like it, but not this place.

This cove was tainted now, the site of a terrible massacre. An extremely prolific asari serial killer had made her home in the place, turning the commune into a cult that worshipped her. For months, they brought her young maidens to kill in some bizarre ritual, the details of which were very sketchy. Asari intelligence refused to provide anything concrete.

But it did not matter; the serial killer wasn't her mission. Her mission was the woman chasing the killer.

Samara. A member of an elite and ancient order of justicars, law enforcers and arbiters of morality. Trained to the very highest standards, disciplined and able to use any means they wished; the asari inspiration for the Spectres. An extremely formidable foe.

Justicars were empowered under the highest laws of the Asari Republics to defend order and justice... Unless they became inconvenient.

This one had. Nevos was an asari world, but it was not part of the Republics. It was nestled in the elcor home star cluster, an open world for asari to live in as a gift in return for all their help in helping the elcor join the galactic community. Justicars had no jurisdiction. Yet this Samara had killed her way across Citadel space in pursuit of her prey, her Order's code not recognising any jurisdiction but that of the goddess Athame.

She had become a huge liability to the Republics, but they could do nothing about it. Not until Samara killed a human official, allegedly corrupt, for helping the serial killer escape from the Eagle Nebula. With that singular act, she drew the wrath of the Systems Alliance. The asari made contact as soon as the incident had been confirmed, and a deal was struck. The Alliance would eliminate Samara if she refused an official recall order, and the Republics would back the chosen person for Spectre.

Which had sent Ashley on a month long chase, causing to miss even the opening of Shepard's memorial, a few days earlier. Now, it found her laying down on a rock on Nevos, in a full ghillie suit, her only company being her Rorsch anti-materiel railrifle; the only reliable way to kill an asari matriarch with zero opportunity for retaliation was by using a very big weapon, without any warning.

Ashley sighed to herself as she laid her scopes on the commune complex. She would have preferred to be there with a bikini and a boyfriend, but passive camouflage and a gun would have to do. She had been waiting for hours now, having been dropped off a few miles offshore, and there had no sign of the justicar. It was unknown if she had already arrived, and all the asari Ashley had sighted had been positively identified by facial recognition as other people.

"Status?" came an irritated female voice in her ear, speaking in sari.

"No change, General," Ashley replied in English, "Tali, anything on the _Honoria_ 's sensors?"

Ashley had been granted the use of the _Honoria_ , a Normandy-class ship, for the final stage of the mission; the ship that just so happened to be commanded by Charles Pressly and Tali'Zorah. She was glad they were chosen for this mission, they could be relied on through thick and thin.

There was a shuffling sound on the comms, as the young quarian moved to check. "Nothing showing up on the hacked air traffic control feed," Tali replied, "And nothing on heat sensors, although we are not well positioned here. If we want a full view of the island approaches, we need to be in orbit."

"Goddess damn it," said the less familiar voice again, "Okay. If this continues another hour, I want you to go down there and make contact with the locals. If we can't wait her out, we can flush her out."

"General Aethyta, that is unacceptable risk," said Pressly, "The justicar could kill Lieutenant Williams, ambush her, the locals could become hostile if she starts asking questions."

Yeah, Ashley thought, a whole village of angry asari wasn't her idea of paradise. Palm trees or no palm trees.

"We'll bring the ship in and offer the justicar a choice," Aethyta replied, "Surrender or die. The lieutenant will be in no danger, justicars don't shoot the messenger."

Ashley couldn't help but feel that was wishful thinking, and grasped her rifle's grip a little more tightly.

"Excuse us if we're not as confident about that as you are," Tali said, anger rising in her tone, "I've lost one friend already, and I have only just returned from a ceremony for her. I don't want to lose another."

Aethyta growled, but said nothing. She was turning out to be a first rate guest.

But this was a tougher mission than Ashley's prospective Spectre evaluation was likely to be, and she had to make a good impression. Humanity needed a Spectre.

"Look, if that's what we need to do, I'll do it," she said, "But let's wait another few hours. I don't think I've seen everyone down there yet."

The response to her suggestion didn't come. A sudden rapid beeping pre-empted it, an alarm on the ship. There was more shuffling sounds.

"Ashley, air traffic control just registered a new blip, less than a minute out," Tali said, "Someone turned on their transponder, letting the commune know they were coming."

"Impressive," Aethyta said, "Even civilian transponders have very heavy anti-tampering measures to stop aircars being used as missiles. She's good."

Ashley settled back into a ready position, checked her weapon for good measure. It wouldn't be long now. Either the justicar was coming, or would appear in the open soon.

A cherry red aircar, a very luxurious sports model, glided through the gap in the rock just above the water, creating little curtains of spray in its wake. It slowed rapidly, forward thrusters kicking up a cloud of steam. A crowd of people emerged from the buildings to greet the visitor, all asari. "Purebloods" if the briefing intel was good, all dressed in flowing robes like togas, and little else.

Knowing her target could be coming out into the open before the car landed, Ashley moved her aiming reticle away from the car, and onto the crowd. There were at least three times as many people as she had surveyed until that point, which meant she had to aim at each one for a half second or so to allow identification.

There were children. Guilt stirred in her gut, pulling at her. Killing someone in front of children wasn't why she joined the military. She fought through her hesitation, her jaw clenched. She had to proceed, the relations with the asari were at stake. Her future as a Spectre was too, but she cared far less about that.

The VI chirped negatives, the target wasn't in the crowd. She breathed a sigh of relief, and moved her point of aim away from them.

"Target is not in the village," Ashley reported, "Probably in the car. Permission to engage." Her weapon could easily shoot clean through the vehicle, and whoever was inside.

There was a pause on the comms, setting everything on edge.

"Get positive identification first," General Aethyta said at last, "And await my order to fire. I want zero collateral damage lieutenant, is that clear?"

"Affirmative," Ashley replied, "The aircar is setting down now."

Glassing the sand below in the process, the vehicle had engaged its landing thrusters and was coming to a complete halt. It set down with a little bump on the slightly uneven ground, and the whine of its main engines ceased. The crowd made its way in a hurry towards it. Before the door had even opened, they surrounded it, trying to get a look.

"Incoming encrypted message for you, General," Tali reported.

"Send it to my omnitool," Aethyta replied.

Ashley shifted her weight, readying herself for the shot. Someone had stepped out of the car, someone with a sort of red tiara. Part of the Justicar commando armour. It was a justicar. The VI couldn't identify her though, there were too many heads in the way. It would take was a split second to identify, and another to take the shot once authorisation was given. But that was all the time Ashley needed.

The crowd moved with the target up the beach, like a protective swarm. They were reverent of the newcomer. Ashley grew impatient, her fingers itching. If she had to wait for the target to emerge from the village again, she was going to be very pissed off. Aethyta muttered something about decryption protocols, but she wasn't paying attention.

Finally, the crowd stopped and began to disperse. The target must have given an order to that effect. A minute later, with her protective layer of people stripped, she turned around to face in Ashley's direction. She was armed with an assault rifle on her back and a submachinegun on her hip; nothing that could reach out and touch Ashley.

And she seemed to be planning to hold court right there on the beach. Bad move, lady.

The VI beeped a positive ID. Samara had arrived. She had a kindly expression as she spoke to the commune leaders, Ashley thought, but could easily see how that warmth could turn to ice in an instant. The justicar had extreme focus.

"Target identified," Ashley said, "Permission to engage."

No reply came. Samara kept speaking, while the village elders listened. She took a knee and lowered her head, in a gesture of submission or apology. All the while leaving Ashley wondering what was taking so long. But it wasn't like it was a good idea to hurry Aethyta along.

"General," Pressly said, using the privileges of his rank, "The target is identified and the lieutenant has a shot."

The General's response was a long, drawn out growl. "Mission is scrubbed," she said, through her teeth if her tone was any indication, "Bring the _Honoria_ to the lieutenant's position for evac. I want that bitch of a justicar to know just how close she came to dying today."

Ashley relaxed completely, feeling the tension of the mission fall out of her at once. What the hell was going on?

"But... why?" Tali said, "What's happened?" Ashley could almost hear the quarian blinking as she spoke, her confusion as strong as anyone's.

"The Alliance Fifth Fleet was sent to Illium to demand the freeing of slaves and searches for Reaper tech," Aethyta explained, "The matriarchs didn't comply, and called in their allies in the Republics. Those allies sent in their own flotillas, and Hannah Shepard refused to back down. Apparently there was a ground incursion too, at Nos Astra. The turians stopped it all turning into war less than a hour ago, but Republics are in complete chaos. The only thing the e-democracy's moderators have agreed on is a suspension of all military cooperation with the Alliance until the matter is fully considered."

Ashley had never heard something so stupid in all her life.

"But that's insane!" she said, "The Reapers are coming!"

"They've never been all that sure about that either," Aethyta replied, "But then again, they sent me into exile until it suited them, so it's not like I expect fucking sense from them."

"We've got to convince them otherwise," Ashley continued, "Find some way of shoring up their support."

"Well, it won't be this," Aethyta said, "The Republics don't care if relations are fucked up by this justicar now."

Which still left one possibility.

"Captain, I can still take the shot on your command authority," Ashley said, addressing Pressly, "The justicar still killed an Alliance citizen. Permission to engage."

"Negative, lieutenant," Pressly replied immediately, "The asari might not care about relations with us, but we still care about relations with them. Without the General to keep the Republics quiet about it, we don't have deniability."

"If you kill a justicar, the hardline matriarchs will get permission to publicise it to the galaxy," Aethyta added, "Justicars are the heroes of every little asari girl out there, you'll look like monsters."

Ashley cursed and stood up, the need for stealth gone. What a waste of time it had all been.

"I'm sorry, lieutenant," the General said, "It wasn't my call."

"I know, ma'am," Ashley replied, as she began stripping off her ghillie suit to the waist, "We'll fix this."

"Keel'ah, I hope so," Tali said, "The Reapers will be cheering otherwise. If they can cheer."

The cool sea wind finally met Ashley's skin and ran through her hair, relieving her of the heat she had to endure throughout the day. It felt great, and she felt better about the situation she found herself in too.

"Tomorrow is another day, Commander," Ashley said, "I only wish I could stick around here. It's beautiful."

"No rest for the wicked, I guess," Tali replied jokingly, "Anyway, we'll bring the _Honoria_ in at your position once we get clearance from air traffic control to move."

"Best to keep things legitimate, now that there's no danger," Pressly said in agreement, "Even if it is inconvenient."

Ashley didn't respond, but stretched her arms and legs and picked up her weapon from the ground, collapsing the bipod and cradling it. She was perfectly happy to spend more time doing nothing at that location, and she would admit it if asked. But she was curious about the village below. She wished she could go down and visit.

The asari below continued talking for a few more minutes, happy as can be. Ashley was perfectly content At least, they were until all at once, they turned around and looked up. Straight at her. It didn't matter any more.

Feeling a bit cheeky, Ashley gave a large wave, before her weapon slipping out of her remaining hand forced her to stop. One of the asari below waved back, which caused her to smile a little.

A smile that disappeared quickly, as the justicar immediately broke into a run straight towards the path leading to the heights. And this Samara was very very light on her feet.

"Eh, the justicar is approaching," Ashley reported, "Rapidly."

"Don't say anything about your intentions," Aethyta advised, "She will kill you if you admit you were here to kill her, but she can't interrogate you unless you give some indication you know something about the serial killer."

"We knew the killer was here before she did," Pressly said, "Best keep that detail quiet, or she might think we know where the killer is now."

"Which we don't," Tali concluded, "Don't worry, we'll be there soon."

"Gotcha," Ashley replied.

The justicar made her appearance from the forest just below the heights and slowed to a fast walk as she spotted Ashley again.

Ashley didn't move from the spot she had been in, her body still facing outwards to the cove. She turned her head away too, once it was apparent that the justicar wasn't going to attack. The soft padding of the asari's approach got louder and louder, until there was a crunch of the dirt beside.

The justicar had come to a halt beside.

"My name is Samara, a servant of the Justicar Code," the asari said, "You are a well armed human, in a place normally without humans or weapons. Who are you and what interest does this place hold for you?"

Ashley turned to find the almost luminescent white-blue irises trained on her. Suddenly, outright lying seemed like a poor idea. Those eyes could detect them. So, telling the truth was the way forward. Or, at least as much of it as possible without giving away the game.

"Lieutenant Ashley Williams," she replied, "Hell Brigade, First Legion, Army of the Systems Alliance."

The justicar's eyes flickered in thought. Whether it was with interest or annoyance, Ashley could not tell. And that seemed to make the woman all the more dangerous.

"This is not an Alliance or Pact world, lieutenant," Samara said, "What business do you have here?"

"My business here is none of yours," Ashley replied, "Respectfully."

"The people here have isolated themselves from the rest of this world and the galaxy," Samara pressed, "The Alliance has no reason to want to come here. That leads me to conclude that your purpose here involves me, the only other extraordinary presence. Am I correct?"

Ashley turned her head back to the cove, finding that the villagers were all staring up at them. It almost made her laugh.

"Whatever I'm doing here doesn't involve you," she said, adding 'not any more' to herself in her head, hoping that it would lend a truthful tone.

"You are not telling me the truth," Samara said, "Or at least, not all of the truth."

As if to reply itself, the _Honoria_ flew over the cove, engines roaring, sending the commune's inhabitants scurrying back to their houses. Its flightpath curved, so it could to make its way to pick up its crew member.

"I don't need to tell you anything, truth or not," Ashley said, "Except that I don't mean you any harm."

The justicar remained silent. Silent when the _Honoria_ approached. Silent when it stopped with a wave of hit air. Silent when the front ramp descended. When Tali and the ship's complement of marines and soldiers exited, weapons levelled. When they fanned out so that the justicar couldn't simply knock them dead with her biotics.

"I see," Samara said, finally reacting when the movement and noise ceased.

"Is there a problem here?" Tali asked nervously, her shotgun trained right at Samara's head. Ashley placed her hand on top and lowered it, shaking her head. The time for that had passed.

The justicar inclined her head in thanks.

"It was nice meeting you," Ashley said, before waving her arm, "Marines! Back to the ship."

They all withdrew up the ramp, not turning their backs. Ashley didn't bother, instead walking straight on board, not showing an inch of weakness. Like General Aethyta said.

The justicar had to be shown how close she had come.

* * *

The trip back to Arcturus was taking an age. Minutes felt like hours, hours like days. It was all because of the failure of the mission. Even if it wasn't the fault of anyone on board the _Honoria_ , it was still a setback.

Ashley Williams sat in her sleep-pod, she felt a sense of exhaustion. Mission scrubbed, Spectre status delayed, authority to chase evidence on the Reapers through Citadel space elusive; it was a big mess. Thankfully a big mess that wasn't her fault. Being the grand-daughter of the man who had surrendered to aliens still hung over her, even if she was one of Shepard's team.

That didn't change the fact that the salarians and now the asari were reluctant to let anyone but a Spectre do the job of combing through the corporate and military research institutes of the galaxy, looking for Reaper arcana. The Alliance DID and Quarian Fleet Intelligence Service were both agreed; the original three species could not be trusted to conduct the inquisition themselves. Saren had been a Spectre, after all. Who knew how deep the tentacles of indoctrination or corruption had spread in the centuries before humanity's arrival and the liberation of Rannoch.

The lieutenant sighed long and deep. If only Shepard was alive, she thought, she would know how to unscrew the situation. She always did.

A sudden rapping on the glass in front of her sounded. Startled, Ashley opened her eyes and swung her head forward before she could think. The cold glass stopped her head, sending a pulse of pain through her.

"Damn it!" she mumbled, her mood not improved.

"Sorry!" came the high-pitching reply.

The throbs continuing, Ashley rubbed her forehead and opened her eyes again. She found Tali standing in front of her pod, her eyes lowered in her visor, hands fidgeting. Finding the XO of the ship to be in a fluster did improve her mood, and she slapped the exit button. The source of her pains slid back, and she stepped out onto the deck, putting a hand over her mouth to stifle a deep yawn that threatened to overtake her completely.

"Sorry," Tali said again, with a little more composure, "I didn't think you would do that if I knocked."

"It's okay," Ashley replied, waving it off, "You're forgiven."

"There was a message from Space Command Terra," Tali continued, "Pressly sent me down to tell you."

Something important enough to require waking the ship's guest. This was going to be good.

"Sounds overly dramatic," Ashley said, stretching her arms, "Are we at war with the asari?"

Tali shook her helmeted head. "Actually, Liara weighed in publicly and the maidens rallied behind her," she replied happily, "Things are about where they were before Illium happened."

"So what's the emergency?" Ashley asked, crossing her arms.

"The ship is needed to move an important Prothean artefact," Tali replied.

Ashley paused, and promptly shook her head in disbelief. "Sending our ship to pick up a Prothean artefact with a Spectre candidate on board, along with a high ranking Citadel military official, all on short notice," she said, "This is beginning to sound familiar, but not urgent."

"That's why Pressly sent me to tell you," Tali said, "The artefact is on Eden Prime."

* * *

Eden Prime, where the war with the geth had begun. Where Ashley had lost her entire squad, almost every friend she had planetside. She had made others on board the Normandy, but those that had died at the hands of the geth were not forgotten. They had been shot, impaled on Reaper enthralment devices, torn to pieces by geth foot units, crushed under rubble, or obliterated by Sovereign's beam weapon...

The scars of the fighting near the 'Prothean Kappa' site were still visible from the air. Blackened gouges through the green countryside, nothing able to grow where the soil had been irradiated and the removal of the contamination a low priority compared with the rebuilding of the broken infrastructure for the billion souls that called the world home.

Ashley could even pick out the exact spot she had camped the day before the attack, for the briefest moment as the _Honoria_ flew through the valley.

The prefabricated colonial buildings hadn't changed. Cheap housing for the masses, next to the older constructions finished in the thirty years since humans first set foot there. Some people didn't even bother building more permanent housing on their land grants, the modular kind being perfectly comfortable and more efficient to expand. Yet they were poor defences against mass accelerators or the strength of synthetic muscle.

The ship put down in the same spaceport that Saren had used to land the first geth forces in January 2183 and the same he had tried to destroy with a nuclear weapon after drawing in Alliance troops. It was far from the only Navy ship in dock that day either. Another five frigates were in berths, the _Guadalcanal_ wolfpack of the Eighth Fleet, all _Normandy-class_ sister ships of the _Honoria_.

So when the ramp came down, it was no surprise at all to see soldiers at every corner, GARDIAN batteries on every tower and walkers on every road exit. It was a welcome sight to Ashley, relief that the colony now had the protection it deserved.

The lead-scientist of the digsites was also waiting, looking uncomfortable and distracted by the military environment.

"Doctor Warren," Ashley called, stepping off the ship, "Good to see you again. Is Doctor Cayce not here?"

The anthropologist twitched her head around, not having seen Ashley disembark. "Oh, Chief Williams," Warren said uncertainly, "It is good to see you too. Manuel is no longer with the project since the Army took over. Indoctrination concerns over his previous behaviour."

Ashley nodded, recalling that her second had indeed been acting funny. She felt a little embarrassed having not remembered before, especially as it was very possible that poor Manuel had been experimented on by the Special Weapons Division. Needing a distraction herself now, she waved her companions forward to introduce them.

"This is Commander Tali'Zorah vas Honoria of the Quarian Navy," Ashley said, "And General Aethyta of the Asari Republics."

A famous name and a high rank would send many people over, but the doctor handled it well, offering her hand to both Tali and Aethyta. Tali shook it gladly. Aethyta shook with reluctance.

"Are you here as the Citadel's representative, General?" Warren asked as their hands were together.

"No, I'm here to determine whether or not the Citadel needs to know about this at all," Aethyta replied, "I share your government's caution about indoctrination."

"But don't we have to report all major Prothean finds?" Warren continued, "This is highly irregular."

"We live in irregular times," Aethyta said impatiently, "All I know is that if this is as big as your military thinks it is, and it gets reported, someone with the Reaper's hand up their ass like a goddess-damned puppet is going to try and make a play for it."

"Best to avoid that," Ashley agreed, smiling at just what words the asari had chosen.

Warren nodded rapidly. "It's big," she said, "If you'll just follow me."

She led the way to a waiting shuttle on a nearby pad, and sat down on the edge of the hull with her legs hanging out rather than sitting inside. Impressed, Ashley sat down beside her after letting Tali and Aethyta board, laying her rifle across her lap. Earpieces were handed out to facilitate conversation, and the shuttle dusted off.

"What do you know about the new digs?" Warren asked as soon as they were clear of the spaceport.

"Only what the briefing packet had," Ashley replied, her voice raised over the sound of rushing air and engines, "The DID ordered re-examination of every world with a Prothean site in human space, and intrusive excavations of any promising leads."

"And mostly found jack shit," Aethyta added for good measure.

"Until now," Tali said, "So what did you find?"

"In general?" Warren replied, "A hugely complex bunker system containing hundreds of hibernation pods, designed to be shielded from detection by even the most advanced sensors."

"Like Ilos?" Ashley asked. A chill ran down her spine at her memories of that world, its entire surface a crypt for a dead civilisation. Or two, if the salarians' theory about the inusannon held water.

"If the salarians' reports about that world are true, exactly like Ilos, yes," Warren said, "In fact, it's the fifth such bunker to be found in human space since 2157. The third since the end of the war. It seems hibernation was one of the strategies employed by the Protheans to try and beat the Reapers."

Tali gasped in surprise. "Does that mean there could be hibernation ships out in dark space too?" she said, "Full of Protheans?"

"That would have been our likely next hypothesis if the Reapers hadn't already tried to return," Warren answered, "But they would have tried to return long before now if they had survived out there. Maybe they did before the discovery of the Citadel by the current cycle of sentient species and Sovereign hunted them down. The evidence for that would have been cleaned up."

"A bunker," Aethyta mused aloud, "Any useful military technology?"

"Nothing like the beacons, if that's what you want to know," Warren replied, "As for the rest... you'll see. Look, there's the new site."

The doctor pointed off to a collection of prefabs, with cranes surrounding a large and deep hole to one side. Ashley got a sinking feeling as she noticed another detail; unlike the spaceport, there were no anti-aircraft weapons or armoured vehicles guarding it. In fact, she strained to see any security safeguards at all.

"Where's the Army?" Ashley asked loudly, "I'm not seeing any defences."

"There's a small contingent disguised as security guards," said Warren, "But the whole site is kept secret, disguised as an exploratory mining operation. That helps explain the heavy digging equipment and even my presence, as Eden Prime is so studded with sites that pretty much any digging leads to finds. Mostly useless rubble, but it's the law to catalogue it all."

"So the only security you have is what?" Ashley said, "A single platoon?"

"Any more would draw suspicion," Warren said, "Like you said, we're not sure the Citadel needs to know. Secrecy is our best defence."

"Oh Goddess," Aethyta groaned, before pulling her rifle off her back and cocking it, "The Alliance might be able to keep a secret from the turians, the asari, the STG... even the Reapers. But I see no one has considered the other possibilities."

"Other possibilities?" Tali asked.

"If you think the major powers are the only ones with chips on the table, you're wrong," Aethyta replied, "Every private military concern, every Terminus warlord and humanity's own separatist movements would be eager to find whatever it is the good doctor has uncovered. Especially if it has military applications."

The dressing down didn't do much to help Ashley's mood.

"Tali, get your shotgun out," she said, "We could need it." Tali nodded and complied, even though she now outranked Ashley. A technicality that Tali herself didn't care to point out; Ashley was by far the more experienced soldier.

The shuttle kept flying, coming in from the south as expected, overflying some other pads and private homes, its speed slowing. The locals were looking up and waving, the good doctor's habit of flying while hanging out of the shuttle obviously a source of amusement for some. Elsewhere, children played in backyards, ground cars moved about in the street, people went about their business; it seemed like an ordinary weekday afternoon.

Ashley watched it all pass by with sadness. She knew the peace wouldn't last. As she was contemplating how many would die, and how many the latest discovery would save, she saw Dr. Warren looking around, confused.

"Problem doc?" Ashley asked.

"We just passed by the shuttlepad," she said, "At least, the one I took off from. All my staff are waiting there."

Aethyta and Ashley exchanged a look that communicated that they had come to the same conclusion. The pilot was not friendly.

The matriarch summoned her biotics in a flurry of purple light, and ripped the door to the cockpit clean off, dropping it to the shuttle's floor with a thump. Another flurry, and the pilot was ripped out along with the top half of his chair. He slammed against the rear bulkhead, protected from most of the impact by the crash padding in the seat, but he was dazed. The shuttle lurched rightwards, thankfully the direction that wouldn't throw both Ashley and Dr. Warren out of it, instead sending Tali and the pilot tumbling against the closed door opposite.

Aethyta rushed into the co-pilot's seat in the cockpit to regain control of the shuttle, while Tali struggled with the pilot as he attempted to go for his gun.

Gritting her teeth, Ashley tried to get a shot on the bastard, but Tali had to keep on top of him to prevent him from shooting her. Cursing, she lowered her weapon, hoping that the quarian could handle it.

The shuttle steadied again, just before it hit a three floor apartment block, levelling out so close to it that Ashley and Warren could have jumped out safely.

The pilot got the upper hand as soon as Tali's weight wasn't applied to him any longer, and shoved her away with full strength straight into Doctor Warren. They just barely managed to stay on board, as the man responsible went for his gun.

Ashley was faster, and shot him through the chest twice before his pistol got a bead on any of them. It tumbled to the floor first, followed by the man himself landing on top of it in a heap. Yet it was far from over, and the lieutenant felt her heart jumping around in her chest. They were in serious danger.

Thankfully, there was someone she could trust with her life right beside her.

"We've got to keep that artefact out of enemy hands!" Ashley said to Tali, "Ideas?"

"General, put the shuttle down in the site itself!" Tali ordered, her hand finding a grip, "I'll send a message to the _Honoria_ , get them to send reinforcements!"

"Gotcha," Aethyta replied.

The shuttle sped towards the excavations, flying as low as possible to avoid any possible attempts to intercept it. It was now obvious to whoever wanted the artefact that their deception had been seen through.

* * *

Aethyta didn't turn out to be the best pilot. She had barely avoided several large antennas on the way in. The shuttle scraped and banged all the way down the mining shaft, the inertial dampeners unable to compensate for the forces applied. If it hadn't been for the safety harnesses, all occupants would have rattled around inside. The final landing was an ear-splitting, spine-jarring affair. If the shuttle could fly again after experiencing it, Ashley would eat her helmet.

But they made it to the bottom without dying, and that was the important part. Ashley and Tali jumped out of the opening doors, sweeping their weapons over every nook and cranny of the dark cavern, the sunlight from above a mere soft glow. There was no welcoming committee, ironic or otherwise, just some thick buttresses in the strange grey alloys that the Protheans liked to use.

"Clear!" Ashley declared, "Come on out, doc."

"I think I have whiplash," Dr. Warren groaned, stepping out of the shuttle with her hands on the back of her neck. She massaged it, turning her head from side to side. A bit over the top, Ashley thought.

Aethyta exited next, and gave the lead-scientist a less-than-playful slap on the back. Dr. Warren yelped, and scowled at her attacker, before thinking better of it upon eyeing the assault rifle cradled in her arms.

"You'll be fine," the asari replied, "Where's the main ruins? This isn't it, clearly."

"Further down," Dr. Warren said, "The geology that prevented detection of the site with ground penetrating radar also prevented a safe vertical shaft the whole way down."

"How far then?" Aethyta asked.

"Not far, follow me."

Dr. Warren moved towards the only visible tunnel as casual as can be, like it was any other day. It was incredibly stupid.

"Wow, hold on there doc," Ashley said, "There are guards down here too, right? How do we know they're not compromised?"

"They're all up there," the lead-scientist replied, "And the elevator is slow, before you ask whether or not they can get down here. Designed to take very heavy loads, very carefully. By the time the thing gets up there, we can lock out the power source, which is down here. This was the main exploration shaft, we mostly use it to get equipment down here fast using the cranes."

The metallic click-click of Ashley's weapon rang out, echoing around the space, satisfying as hell. "You'll excuse us for not taking your word," she replied, "Hostile action by unknown numbers of unknown enemies doesn't tend to make me more trusting of what is supposed to be the status quo."

Tali hummed her approval. Wise beyond her years, Ashley thought fondly.

Dr. Warren nodded. "You're the soldier, not me," she said, "All I can do is tell you what I know was down here about an hour ago."

The asari present made a rolling asari shrug, and put her hand on the lead-scientist's shoulder.

"Doc, lead the way to the elevator so we can disable it," Aethyta cut in, "Stop them getting down here."

The lead-scientist's face lit up with relief. "This way," Dr. Warren replied happily, "I'll go first, maybe you can get the drop on them if they see me first." She moved off into the tunnel, Aethyta's eyes tracking her the whole way to it. Watching, assessing.

Ashley realised that there was suspicion there, but of what? Negligence or complicity?

Aethyta waited until Dr. Warren was out of earshot to make it clear. "Watch that one," she said quietly, "I'm not sure of it, but she could be working with whoever else wants what is down in this hole."

Ashley shook her head, as all three stragglers began walking, Tali keeping up with Dr. Warren. "I talked to her every day for a year," she replied, "There isn't a treasonous bone in that woman's body. She was always kind to us grunts."

Aethyta snorted slightly, unable to mask her disapproval that any stock would be put in that, where trustworthiness was concerned. Ashley had her doubts too, but they didn't loom so large as to make her want to show her hand. Betrayal could be motivated by more than just malice. Fear or greed did just as well.

Regardless, the lead-scientist soon brought them to the main elevator shaft. The elevator itself was moving, coming down. Dr. Warren had been right though. She disconnected the power supply to the main motors, pulling the large plugs out of their sockets, and the droning of the thing stopped at once. No more descending elevator. With that done, all that was left to do was go deeper, back into the tunnels.

The one leading to the main archaeological site was wider and taller than the one between the two descent shafts, with a more gentle, spiralling slope. It took twenty minutes to make it to the Prothean bunker complex, with cold artificially pumped air circulating around them the whole time.

When Ashley finally saw what it was, she felt like she had stepped back in time, and in more ways than one.

The entire space looked like the Ilos vaults, stretching on like they did for what looked like a kilometre at least. Smooth light grey surfaces in an arch shape, ceilings higher than a five floor building, buttressed against the pressure of rock above by huge pillars. The hibernation pods stuck out out the walls at regular intervals, like black studs, all the way from the floor to the roof, just as coffin-like as she remembered.

But unlike Ilos, there was no overgrowth of dead twisting vines clinging to everything, no rivers of water flowing through the complex, no broken rocks or debris. Just a coat of fine dust, as if she was on Ilos during the Protheans' long sleep, waiting for the Reapers to leave.

The only blemishes on the whole structure were signs of battle. Disintegrated sections of walls at angles that told the tale of a fight conducted with directed particle weapons; signature of the Protheans themselves. There were reinforced barricades and derelict emplaced-weapons, mangled or destroyed by explosions or impacts.

Not even Aethyta was immune to the sense of wonder it all provoked. But even as Ashley shared it, she wondered if it also provoked something else in the asari general, something she felt deep down in her gut; dread. This was a crypt, just like Ilos was. A monument to a failed, annihilated civilisation.

Tali was also oddly quiet, and had been since they had arrived.

"What's wrong?" Ashley asked her, as they all slowed for a moment to admire the place.

"The Protheans built all this to trick the Reapers, after having suffered defeat after defeat," Tali said at once, "Yet here we are, wondering if we're going to be attacked by someone who wants to steal their secrets. Do they not see how bad that is? We shouldn't be fighting among ourselves over this sort of thing. The knowledge we find down here needs to be shared if we're going to live, not stolen and kept away."

"Some people need to be kept away from that knowledge," Aethyta said, "They won't just fight the Reapers with it."

"I'm sure that's what whoever is trying to interfere is thinking," Tali said in admonishment, "I wish we could negotiate with them..."

"So do I," said Ashley, "But until the Reapers do show up, we'll be playing the politics game, as usual."

"Even after they arrive," Aethyta corrected, "Do you think the Reapers would be stupid enough to attack everyone equally at the same time? They'll play the divide and conquer game, I'm sure of it. Some of us will be attacked with absolute force, others will just get tickled. I'd be surprised if the Terminus was attacked at all while Citadel forces are still in the fight. No need to draw in the pirates to help us."

The science team was near where the tunnel met the bunker, white coats crowded around a particular sector of the hibernation pods. Like Dr. Warren had said, there were no guards, although there was a single Alliance presence, a female Navy officer with dark skin and long black hair, armed only with a heavy pistol.

The lead-scientist herself ran over as soon as she knew she could make the run in a single burst, and straight to a set of diagnostic screens that seemed to congregate around one particular hibernation pod, still lodged in the bunker wall. There was a great deal of commotion around the thing, as what Ashley presumed were electrical engineers placed wires on contact points and anthropologists attempted to decipher Prothean language script flowing over some of the screens.

The Alliance officer noticed the new arrivals before any of the scientists did, and almost stumbled over herself moving to make her introduction. The salute that came was sharp and energetic. Not a combat officer, Ashley said to herself at once.

"Staff-Analyst Maya Brooks," the woman said in a curious Anglo-Irish accent, blinking her big brown eyes, "Special Weapons Division, Defence Intelligence Directorate."

What a pup, the lieutenant thought.

"At ease," Ashley said, "Lieutenant Ashley Williams."

"I know," Brooks replied, her eyes moving to the quarian and the asari to the left, "And Tali'Zorah, XO of the SSV Honoria. And... actually, I don't know who you are. They didn't say you'd be coming."

"No one you need to worry about, kid," Aethyta replied, "It seems Dr. Warren has completely forgotten we exist, and we probably don't have a lot of time before we have a hostile force trying to take this discovery of yours from us. So, would you mind telling us what it is, before they show?"

"Certainly!" Brooks replied, "At once!" And said nothing more.

There was an awkward silence.

"So?" Ashley said, "What is it?"

"Oh, right!" Brooks continued, "Well, this entire group of pods seems to be soldiers, you see. At least, that's what the inscriptions over the section say according to Jacob and the other one. The Prothean linguists, I mean. There aren't any armouries, so Dr. Warren thought this would be the place to look for weapons or other useful military... things."

"Good bet," Ashley said, "So is that what we've found? Weapons?"

"No," Brooks began, "Well, yes, there are Prothean small arms in there too, but that's not what everyone is excited about. When they got the console half-working, that one there by our own computers, it said there was still one of them left alive in there."

Ashley's jaw dropped.

"A _living_ Prothean?" Tali asked, incredulous, "But... how?"

"The VI indicated that the power systems were damaged just before the last occupants were put into stasis," Brooks said, "The system for automatically waking them was also damaged, so that's why they didn't just wake up after the Reapers left last time. It managed to triage the power according to rank, saving the most important sleepers for as long as possible, just like at Ilos."

"Until only one was left," Ashley said, "Jesus. Imagine being the last of your species, fifty thousand years later. That's terrible."

"But incredibly useful for us, if we can get them out of that damn box," Aethyta said, "The most important Prothean left alive? It's likely to be a scientist or a politician. Better someone who can explain Prothean weapons technology to us would be the biggest win, but I'd settle for someone who can relay exactly how the Reapers fought during the last cycle. We still have no concrete idea about numbers, ship classes, tactics, strategy... I could go on."

"It could be the thing that turns the war in our favour," Tali agreed, "If we can the pod open."

"They were having trouble just getting the pod out of the wall," Brooks said, smiling, "But it seems they've figured that bit out now, and were just waiting for Dr. Warren to get back so she can look over the plan before executing."

There was a sharp clapping of hands. "Okay people, this is it!" Dr. Warren announced, her hands still together, "We don't know if removing the pod from its slot will activate the awakening sequence, so give it plenty of room. Lieutenant, you may wish to cover it with your weapons, there's no telling what might happen."

Ashley agreed, and shouldered her weapon, keeping the barrel down but floating, ready to raise. Who knows how cranky the Prothean would be on waking up. Or if it had a weapon in there with it. Tali didn't do the same with her shotgun, she had put it away as they reached the bunker proper. No need to make a bad impression, as much as there was a need to discourage violence.

The collective breath of the scientists was held as Dr. Warren pushed a serious of keys on her glowing haptic interface, and with a low grind, the hibernation pod slid out of its place. The others moved a trolley under it quickly, whatever mechanism used to lower it to the floor rendered inoperative by time or battle damage. The thing clanked as it fell a half inch onto the wheeled-support.

Two of the scientists quickly wheeled the pod away to a separate area. Two others moved to inspect the place it had been in. The spare scientists split between observing the two tasks, but Ashley and Tali followed Dr. Warren to the pod, Aethyta and Lt. Brooks staying in place but looking in the same direction.

"There's an instrument panel!" Dr. Warren said excitedly, before tapping on it, "Now let's see if we can't find an awakening protocol..."

"That one!" a linguist hovering nearby said, her face covered with a sanitation mask, "The third from the bottom!"

Dr. Warren tapped it once. And then twice. And then repeatedly for five seconds, frustration causing a storm of wrinkles on her brow. Nothing happened, no matter how determinedly she pushed the button.

It looked like she might break the thing, Ashley thought. "Hey, doc..." she said, "The enemy might be any minute, just take it easy and explain what is wrong."

"It's encoded!" Dr. Warren cried out, throwing her hands, "We can't get it open, and cracking the code will take time."

"Does it have enough power for you to do that?" Tali asked.

"We can recharge it easily enough," Dr. Warren replied, examining the pod's interface again, "It seems to use the same power standards as other Prothean technology we're familiar with, and it's obviously built for longevity. And..."

The scientists around Dr. Warren all grinned. "They left us another gift," she smiled, "I think you two will appreciate this most of all." She tapped something else on the panel, and with a hiss, a side of the pod popped open a sliver, and slid upwards. A slight glow from it indicated that the pod did indeed still have power.

Curiosity overwhelming her, Ashley crouched to see what was inside. At one part was a collection of angular objects of unknown use, perhaps the personal items of the person inside the pod. However, the great bulk of the space was filled with something else; what could only be rifles of some kind. Three of them, elegant but as angular as the other objects. The pistol grips were connected to the stocks, and receiver glowed a strong blue-green. The things were still working, after fifty thousand years!

"Particle rifles?" Ashley said, standing up again, "Very cool."

"Very," said a unfamiliar voice from behind.

There was an ominous click, followed by a continuous artificial humming and a clatter on the floor. Ashley spun on the spot, bringing her rifle to bear in the direction of the noise..

Lieutenant Brooks was standing just behind Aethyta, all traces of the naïve young officer gone from her face, replaced with malice in the form of a smirk and narrowed, focused eyes. The asari general had a large metal collar around her neck, which she was pulling at violently. Her assault rifle was on the ground, under one of Brook's boots. Yet the intelligence officer's pistol was still holstered, but one hand was behind her back.

"Careful now, General," said Brooks, her accent now changed from Anglo-Irish to upper class British, "If you pull too hard on that, it'll explode."

"What is that thing!" Ashley demanded, moving slowly to get a better shot, "Take it off now, lieutenant."

"It's a biotic nullification collar," Brooks replied, counter-manoeuvring to keep Aethyta in the line of fire, "Distasteful, really. The Batarian Hegemony uses them to enslave asari. Once it's on, no more biotics. Lucky we had one prepared. We thought it would be Alenko who would be sent to respond to this. Our mistake, but lucky we made it, or else the general here might have torn us to pieces.

"I still might," Aethyta growled, turning around to face the traitor, "I don't need biotics to do it."

"Oh, and it can explode on command," Brooks added, sing-songing the words.

She held up her hidden hand, revealing a small silver trigger device. "A dead man's switch," she said, "Annoy me enough, and you're dead, general. Probably some of these scientists too, they don't have kinetic barriers. The yield is designed to try and kill other escapees."

Ashley groaned, knowing full well that she couldn't let the scientists die. The Alliance didn't have that many Prothean experts, and they'd be needing them to glean every last piece of possible data for the war effort. The Archives on Mars still held many secrets. She lowered her weapon.

"Put the rifle on the ground, lieutenant," Brooks said, "And go stand beside Commander Zorah. There's a good little dog, following orders. Dr Warren, you and your team move over behind the quarian too. No one needs to get hurt."

Ashley did as she was told, seeing no way of killing the woman without doing the same to the General. The scientists began congregating behind Tali as ordered, their hands held up at various heights in surrender.

"I-I don't understand," Dr. Warren said, "You... who are you? Is your name even Brooks?"

"No. I'm with Cerberus," Brooks answered readily, "You see Doctor, we think we have the key to that little treasure box you found. Unfortunately for all of us, your two guests here guessed something was wrong. Now, it doesn't look like anyone will be getting the prize. The message sent to the Alliance base at the spaceport was garbled, but enough for them to come investigate in force. We don't have time to move the pod now."

"Sounds like you're screwed," Ashley said, "Why attack us if you know you're going to get caught?"

"I might have worried about that," Brooks said, "I do have orders to not kill anyone unless absolutely necessary. Well, no one human anyway. The General here is expendable at best. The Illusive Man never was a fan of aliens, let's face it. Being surrounded might have been a serious problem, except you very kindly landed a shuttle in the shaft for me to take."

Aethyta snorted. "I landed that thing like a brick," she said, "I'd be surprised if it still flies."

Brooks tapped her ear. "My people are already inside it," she said, "They say it's good to go."

"Fuck," Aethyta said.

Ashley shook her head. "Why are you standing around talking to us then?" she asked, "What's the point of this little show?"

"Orders are orders," Brooks replied, "I'm to tell you that Cerberus is responsible, and that we're greatly dissatisfied with your efforts to protect the galaxy from the Reaper threat. Even more so now that you've allied with _batarians_. That little secret won't be so secret soon. Should create nice big riots. Perhaps the government will fall."

"Is that all?" Tali asked, "It seems a big risk just for something that you could have done with a call later."

"Well, security is going to tighten up after this," Brooks said, walking towards the pod, "So we're going to take second prize while we still can."

Leaning backwards against the trolley so she could keep watch while doing her job, the traitor crouched and began blindly grabbing each of the Prothean rifles, putting them on the top of the pod. She fetched a large bag from a table nearby, and began putting the rifles inside it, awkwardly as she had only one hand to do it with.

Ashley felt raw hatred rise in her throat. She couldn't let this go unchallenged. Cerberus couldn't be allowed to obtain Prothean weapons. A dark part of her brain also screamed a suspicion into her conscious mind; collaring Aethyta, rather than shooting her in the back of the head and taking the scientists hostage instead, meant one thing. Cerberus had no intention of walking away without the asari general.

She scanned her surroundings once more.

The first thing she noticed was that Tali still had her shotgun, slung on the small of the quarian's back. Brooks hadn't noticed it, or had and was simply sure that her hold over Aethyta was sufficient to stop Tali from using it. That would be a lot more useful than the rifles laying on the ground twenty paces away at this point.

The second thing was that Brooks' body language was very wary, moving with cat-like precision, always keeping her eyes on Ashley and the others, always keeping her front to them and her hand near enough her pistol to draw it in a heartbeat. This was a big difference compared with her casual speech pattern. Ashley knew not to trust the woman's words, now at least. She put two and two together; Brooks was more afraid than someone in her position ought to be.

But why?

Brooks had almost every advantage; a weapon that could kill all the unshielded people nearby, as well as the only biotic present, another that she could use to fend off the only two others that would survive the first, and a bag of Prothean rifles to boot. What was wrong that she was still afraid? Was it natural paranoia?

Ashley looked over Brooks' person again, and saw the key.

The traitor was wearing a standard Alliance navy dress uniform; blue with gold-inlaid lieutenant's stripes on the shoulders and lapels. Apart from the holster, there were no bulges or unusual thickness in the fabric. It was quite simply an ordinary uniform. That is to say, it didn't have kinetic barrier plates. Brooks was as unprotected from the explosives in Aethyta's collar as anyone.

Ashley's confidence rose, as she came to another conclusion; the dead man's switch wasn't set for an immediate detonation. Brooks needed to get out of this place with her loot alive, whether that was the cryopod or the particle weapons. Her disguise was as an analyst, not a soldier, so no barriers and a sidearm only. Blowing herself up didn't serve her purpose, and Ashley doubted it fit her personality either.

Doing a few quick calculations in her head about timing, Ashley Williams prepared to act.

"Well, it's been a pleasure, Ms. Williams," Brooks said with false cheer, "But I'm afraid I'll also have to take the bronze medal too. General Aeth..." General Aethyta is coming with me, was probably what she would have said.

The traitor didn't get to finish her sentence.

Ashley, letting the woman's little speech distract her, reached behind Tali and pulled the shotgun off the quarian's back. Swinging it around as it opened up into operational mode, she flicked the safety off with her thumb and aimed it at Brooks. The traitor, unwilling to detonate the nullification collar, went for her pistol.

The shotgun boomed first, the accelerated metal bursting from the barrel and spraying in a tight pattern into Brooks' hand. The one holding the detonator, right on target. Even as the detonator began to fall out of the injured hand, the pistol in the other shot in retaliation. Uselessly, the bullets impacted Tali's considerable kinetic barrier with loud pings and flashes of light.

Ashley, having dealt the damage she needed to, dropped the shotgun and burst forward frantically, taking as many steps as possible before diving forwards, hands stretching out to catch the thing Brooks dropped, even as the bullets found her own kinetic barriers and began wearing them down. It didn't matter if they made it through. She had to get her thumb on that button.

She made it, just. Landing on the ground and skidding on her side, the wind knocked completely out of her, she grasped the dead man's switch and squeezed it down, coming to a halt right at the traitor's feet.

Which promptly took off in flight. The booming of the shotgun behind signalled that Tali had recovered it and was putting it to good use. Brooks, her charade destroyed, ran for her life.

"NO!" Tali shouted, "Where'd she go!"

The shotgun boomed again, a speculative shot into the dark. No shout or scream of pain came in return. A miss, then, Ashley thought as she struggled to breath.

More came for the next minute or two, with the occasional answering shot at first. Whatever gun battle was happening, it was almost over before it started. Eventually, a set of black boots appeared in Ashley's vision.

"She had a tactical cloak," Aethyta grunted, her voice nearby, "Are you alright lieutenant?"

Ashley rolled over, and sat up. A tactical cloak could be as simple as a poncho-shaped cloth, easily hidden and easily thrown over someone on the fly. Far easier to conceal than barriers too. As she moved, she noticed something was wrong with the detonator. She shook it up and down, careful to keep the button at the top down while feeling the weight of it. It was light. A little too light.

"I'm alive," she replied, looking up at the asari, "But I don't think your collar has explosives in it after all. This thing is a little light. Might be an old style pen, actually."

"The lying bitch," Aethyta said, shaking her head, "I'd appreciate you not testing that though. You saved my life, the scientists, and the pod. No need to get us all blown up now, trying out a theory." The asari offered her arm in help.

Ashley grinned, taking the help and getting to her feet. Tali came over too, head lowered sullenly.

"She got away," the quarian said, "I sent Chatika to scan for her, nothing in our vicinity."

"Cut her losses," Ashley nodded, "Guess that means Cerberus get the particle weapons."

"Doubt they'll be able to reverse engineer them any time soon," Aethyta said, "Chin up. You took in your circumstances, found the enemy's weakness and exploited it to the best of your abilities, while prioritising what you should have. You'll get ten out of ten from me when the Council come asking about your Spectre evaluation, though you'll probably have to go through a real one at some point."

Tali's head shot up, her glowing eyes curving with happiness behind the mask. "Congratulations, Ashley!" the quarian said.

Ashley's spirits were raised, but she was too out of breath to thank the asari for her assessment.

She hugged Tali quickly but gently, and she offered her hand to Aethyta, feeling like she needed to do something to show her appreciation. The asari shook it once, mumbling about anthropocentrism.

For now, it still wasn't entirely safe. Both of them picked their own rifles off the ground, and went to see if Dr. Warren had stopped jabbering to herself long enough to organise a defence until Alliance troops could properly clear the site once more.

Not another single glance did Ashley give to the hibernation pod.


End file.
